By Jake Naylor

By any measure, Soleil McCants is a force. In the boardroom, she is a 14-year veteran of search engine marketing who understands the psychology of turning a casual browser into a loyal customer. In the community, she is an award-winning activist whose voice has shaped conversations around LGBTQIA+ equity and food insecurity. In her personal life, she is joy personified, middle name and all.

But to understand Soleil, you have to start with chance.

From Chance to Career

“I fell into it,” she says of her start in paid search marketing.

At the time, she was working web support for an energy company in Indiana when a recruiter connected to Google invited her to interview for a contract role back home in Michigan. Within two weeks of receiving the offer, she packed up and moved. While others hired alongside her saw it simply as a job, Soleil saw something bigger.

Soleil McCants

“I recognized the importance of how the internet would define e-commerce and online shopping. It was imperative for corporations and small businesses to engage in search engine marketing and optimization. I knew if I took it seriously, it would propel my career forward.”

It did.

Now a Sr. Paid Search Specialist at Caesars Entertainment, Soleil navigates a world where no two days look the same. From analyzing reports and balancing budgets to refining ad copy and diagnosing performance issues, her work blends analytics with instinct.

What surprises people most? The psychology.

“A lot of effort goes into understanding how to present copy to a value customer versus a luxury customer,” she explains. “We’re diagnosing search queries and trying to give people exactly what they’re looking for.”

It’s both art and science; a balance she sharpened early in her career while observing how brands responded to viral cultural moments. Staying ahead requires curiosity, agility, and a willingness to test new strategies. “What worked five years ago may not work today. You have to be nimble.”

Excellence Through Authenticity

In 2024, Soleil was named Employee of the Quarter; an achievement that brought her to tears. It wasn’t just the recognition; it was what it represented.

“2024 was the most challenging year of my personal life. Only a few people knew what was going on. No one at work had a clue. Being recognized showed that my work ethic and production were still at a high level despite what I was experiencing personally.”

Her strength at work is inseparable from her authenticity. Soleil candidly shares that work was the last place she came out. Having heard stories of discrimination elsewhere, she feared being treated differently. But Caesars Entertainment’s inclusive policies, particularly its Transgender Policy, helped ease that fear.

“An inclusive policy allows teammates to experience the real you, not the manufactured one that just clocks in and does their job.”

Once she felt free to be herself, her performance soared. “Being free to be yourself is being free to be exceptional.”

For Soleil, authentic visibility in corporate America means being grounded and consistent. “Authenticity isn’t something you put on for work and take off at 5 p.m.”

The Call to Advocacy

Soleil didn’t set out to become an activist. It began after she spoke at a healthcare conference and was approached about the needs of unhoused LGBTQIA+ teens in Las Vegas.

“How could I not respond in the affirmative?”

Over time, she realized she had a voice that others didn’t, and that she had a responsibility to use it.

Her advocacy spans service on multiple Boards of Directors, public speaking engagements, podcast appearances, and hands-on volunteerism. Causes addressing LGBTQIA+ inequities and food insecurity resonate deeply because she has experienced inequity herself. After once unknowingly purchasing a home in a food desert, she began thinking more critically about how “inconvenience” for some is hardship for others.

Among her most powerful memories is helping launch the first Camp Pride Tree through The Pride Tree, serving LGBTQIA+ youth. “My heart was moved by the joy the kids felt as they experienced the freedom to be themselves.”

Her understanding of allyship is equally powerful and uncompromising.

“Meaningful allyship is consistent, uncomfortable, and carries risks,” she says. “It shows up, shares access, defends and supports even when you’re not in the room. Real allyship has a cost.”

Inspired by Those Who Came Before

Soleil draws strength from those who have paved the way. Authors like Janet Mock helped her process her upbringing. She recalls a chance meeting with Sarah McBride in Washington, D.C., admiring her poise in uncomfortable spaces.

Locally, she names community leaders such as Judy Bowenwiener, Sy Bernabei, Kalvin Byrd, Nicole Williams, and Sallie Silva as exemplars of wisdom, leadership, and heart.

When asked what LGBTQIA+ visibility should look like in 2026, she points backward to the courage of Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson during the 1960s. “They fought for each other. It’s our turn now. How are we going to channel that energy to make it better for future generations?”

Zest for Life

If Soleil’s advocacy is rooted in conviction, her daily life is rooted in joy.

Her middle name, Joie, is French for “joy” and she treats it as more than a name. “It’s an aura, a presence. Having a zest for life is a natural response to authenticity.”

That zest shows up in “Soleil’s Solo Saturday Shenanigans,” where she explores new restaurants, attractions, or spontaneous road trips. It once led her to Los Angeles on a whim to try a chicharrón she saw featured on the Travel Channel. “It was a spiritual experience,” she laughs.

She is a self-proclaimed horror junkie, a devoted foodie (yes, she defends pineapple on pizza, especially with char, prosciutto, and bacon), and a traveler who prefers living like a local over checking tourist boxes.

Even the stuffed Tweety Bird she brings to new jobs carries symbolism. Discovered while cleaning out her Indiana apartment before moving back to Michigan, Tweety became her talisman. “Every episode, Tweety is chased by Sylvester, and it all works out in the end. It’s a reminder that when I face a new challenge, it will all work out for me.”

Power, Peace, and Legacy

Soleil feels most powerful “in my own skin.” After fighting to become who she is, she refuses to let anyone diminish that hard-won authenticity.

She feels most at peace at home, a space filled with intentional reminders of who she is and who she’s becoming.

Ten years ago, success meant simply existing authentically within a small bubble. Today, it means living her own dreams, not someone else’s, and embracing detours that prove more rewarding than carefully laid plans.

When asked what cultural shift she would implement nationwide, her answer is simple: humility. “Imagine a country where we all think the person next to us is better. We would see humanity more and condemn less.”

As for her legacy, she resists defining it herself.

“I hope that on that day, people have a lot more positive things to share about my impact on them than not. Those who knew me can define it better than I can.”

Soleil McCants may describe herself as “just a Midwest girl living her dream,” but her story is far more expansive. It is a story of curiosity turned into a career, fear turned into freedom, visibility turned into advocacy, and authenticity turned into joy.

And like Tweety, no matter how relentless the chase, she believes it will all work out in the end.

This article was originally published in the 2026 Women & LGBTQIA+ Visibility Issue of Las Vegas PRIDE Magazine, and can be read in its original format here.